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Boys break Wapello’s grip; Tipton next
by Norv and Mary Coblentz · Sports · February 23, 2017
The West Branch boys basketball team defeated Wapello Feb. 16 in their second-round, post-season game.
The final score was 75-63, but the game was very close to the end, with the Indians coming within three points in the fourth quarter.
With the win, the Bears advance to face Tipton at West Liberty Feb. 21.
“They’re very tough to guard,” West Branch Head Coach Tom Burger said. “You’ve got to know that 24’s (Trenton Massner) going to get his points but it’s those X factors that you don’t prepare for. I thought they did a good job. Our kids had to buckle down and we got to the foul line and knocked down some shots. It was a great high school game.”
West Branch senior Cooper Kabela had another stand-out night including 33 points and 12 rebounds.
“I thought he was pretty good, but tonight he was great,” Burger said. “We kept trying to put them (Wapello) away, and they wouldn’t go away. I thought we had a pretty good game plan. We put three different guys on Massner. I thought Tanner Lukavsky did a pretty good job.” In addition to Kabela’s 33 points, sophomore Beau Cornwell scored 28 points. Cornwell and Kabela combined for six three-point shots.
The Bears’ home crowd was a real advantage for the game. “It was back and forth the whole time,” Cornwell said. “We started separating when the crowd started getting into it, started chanting. We just took off from there.”
The teams played to a 19-19 tie in the first quarter. The Bears won the opening tip with Kabela’s tip going to Cornwell. Kabela scored the first basket of the game. Wapello turned the ball over, then Ted Bridges was fouled on a shot. He made both free throws for a 4-0 West Branch lead. Wapello scored, got a defensive rebound, and scored again to tie the game at 4-4. Cornwell answered with a three-point basket for a 7-4 West Branch lead. Wapello turned the ball over on a pass, and Kabela scored, assist Bridges.
The Indians were fouled on a shot and made both free throws. The Bears turned the ball over, and a Wapello basket put the score at 9-8, Bears. After an offensive rebound by Bridges, Kabela scored, assist Bridges. A three-point basket by the Indians tied the game at 11-11 with 3:23 left in the first quarter. Tanner Lukavsky completed a three-point play for a 14-11 West Branch lead. Wapello scored in the paint then Cornwell got a putback basket. Wilton scored, then Kabela made a three-point basket for a 19-15 West Branch lead with 1:17 on the clock. In the final minute, Wapello scored, got a defensive rebound, and scored again for a 19-19 tie.
Kabela scored seven points and had five rebounds in the second quarter.
“I didn’t want this to be my last game,” Kabela said. “And we actually talked about that. I told the younger guys that (your last game) comes faster than you think. Everybody supports everybody. They don’t want to be done. Everybody wants to keep playing. We have fun. It’s really good.
“We knew they had players. We knew it was going to be a fight coming in.”
It was Wilton ball to start the quarter, and Tanner Lukavsky got a deflection. Ben Thompson stole the inbounds pass, and Cornwell scored, assist Thompson. Kabela got a defensive rebound, but Wapello stole the ball. Thompson got a defensive rebound, then Kabela made a putback basket for a 23-19 score. Wapello scored inside, got a defensive rebound, and scored from the outside to tie the game at 23-23. Thompson drove the baseline to score.
A rebound went off the Indians, then Wapello got a steal. Cornwell stole the ball back, and Kabela scored, assist Brett Schiele, for a 27-23 West Branch lead. With 4:21 left in the first half, the Indians took a time out.
Lukavsky got a defensive rebound, but the Bears were called for a travel. West Branch got a deflection, and the Indians scored after inbounding and got a foul. They completed the three-point play for a 27-26 West Branch lead. The Bears were called for traveling again, then Kabela got a defensive rebound and made a three-point basket. Kabela got another defensive board, and Cornwell made a three-pointer for a 33-26 score. Bridges got a steal, then Wapello got a defensive rebound. Kabela got a defensive rebound, Cornwell got an offensive rebound and basket for a 35-26 score with 35 seconds left in the half. Wapello scored then got a defensive rebound.
Thompson got a steal with less than 10 seconds on the clock. Lukavsky got a layup at the buzzer, assist Thompson, for a halftime score of 37-28.
Both teams continued to battle in the third quarter. It was the Bears’ ball to start the quarter, but the Indians got a steal then traveled.
Kabela scored, assist Thompson, for a 39-28 score. Bridges got a steal, and Kabela drove to the hoop to score. Wapello scored, then Cornwell made a three-point basket, assist Bridges. Wapello answered with their own trey, and the score was 44-33 with six minutes to go in the quarter.
Kabela scored, assist Lukavsky. Wapello got a putback basket, then Cornwell got an offensive board and basket. Wapello completed a three-point play for a 48-38 West Branch lead with 4:55 left in the quarter.
Wapello got a defensive rebound and made a basket from way outside the three-point line for a 48-41 score. The Indians got a defensive rebound and scored in the paint to pull to within five points at the 3:29 mark.
Kabela scored, assist Bridges, then the Indians were fouled on a three-point try. The first free throw was missed, but the other two were made for a 50-45 score. Kabela got a putback basket, then Wapelo scored. Thompson scored, then Kabela got a defensive rebound. The Bears turned the ball over, and Thompson got a defensive board. Kabela scored, assist Cornwell.
Wapello made a layup at the buzzer for a 57-49 West Branch lead going into the fourth quarter.
Wapello had possession to start the fourth quarter, and they got a putback basket to cut the Bears’ lead to six. Each team turned the ball over, then the Indians got a defensive rebound and completed a traditional three-point play for a 57-54 Bears lead. Cornwell made a three-point shot to give the Bears some breathing room. Kabela got a defensive rebound then drove the baseline to score.
Trailing 62-54, Wapello took a time out with 5:42 left in the game. Wapello had to work hard for an open shot with the Bears’ tough defense. They got a three-pointer to fall, but it took nearly a minute off the clock. The Bears turned the ball over then Lukavsky got a defensive rebound, and Kabela scored with less than four minutes to go for a 64-57 score. In the final half of the quarter, Wapello missed all three of their free-throw attempts while the Bears made nine of 10 from the free throw line.
The Indians were fouled and missed both free throws. Cornwell got the rebound. With 3:04 to go, the Bears took a time out. Wapello got a defensive rebound and drew a foul. The Indians missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Kabela got the rebound. Wapello fouled, just their third team foul, at the 2:10 mark. Bridges made a three-point basket, assist Kabela, for a 66-57 West Branch lead with about two minutes left in the game. The Indians quickly accumulated fouls until they reached seven. Kabela made the first of two free throws, and Wapello got the rebound. A three-point basket by the Indians at the 1:30 mark made the score 67-60. Cornwell was fouled and made both free throws. Cornwell got a steal and was fouled on a shot. He again made both free throws for a 71-60 score with 1:15 on the clock. Kabela got a defensive rebound, and Cornwell was fouled. He made both free throws with 1:01 left on the clock.
Cornwell got a defensive rebound and was fouled. He made them both again for a 75-60 score with 39 seconds to go. Schiele got a steal, Wapello got a defensive rebound, and the Indians made a three-point basket with eight seconds left. The final score was 75-63.
“I’ve got to give them credit,” Wapello Head Coach Ken Spielbauer said. “They hit some big shots. That was a huge shot. (Cornwell’s three-pointer at the 6:18 mark to stretch the Bears’ lead from three to six) If he’d missed it, we might win the game.”
1 2 3 4 T
WB 19 18 20 18 75
Wap. 19 9 21 14 63
West Branch stats: Beau Cornwell 8 8-8 28, 4 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals; Tanner Lukavsky 2 1-1 5, 4 assists, 1 steal; Brett Schiele 2 assists, 1 steal; Cooper Kabela 15 1-3 33, 2 3-pointers, 12 rebounds, 1 assist; Ben Thompson 2 1-1 5, 4 rebounds, 2 steals; Ted Bridges 1 2-2 4, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Wapello stats: not available
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